Father Christopher Heanue reflects on how God invited the people of Holy Child Jesus parish, Richmond Hill, to rejoice in the gift of life when a healthy newborn baby boy was left in the parish manger.
Holy Year of Mercy
On March 13, 2015, Pope Francis announced a special Holy Year, which will be celebrated from Dec. 8, 2015, until Nov. 20, 2016. The biblical theme of the year, he said, is “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Pope Begins Jubilee Year Of Mercy
On a cloudy, damp morning, Pope Francis’ voice echoed in the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica: “Open the gates of justice.” With five strong thrusts, the pope pushed open the Holy Door, a symbol of God’s justice, which he said will always be exercised “in the light of his mercy.”
Filling in the Potholes of Life
My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, One of the most annoying, and I might say dangerous, obstacles in driving on the streets of the City of New York are the potholes. It seems that no one can keep up with repairing them, as they pop up unexpectedly here and there all the time.
Vatican Christmas Tree
The Christmas tree is positioned in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. It arrived earlier than usual to be ready for the Dec. 8 opening of the Holy Year of Mercy.
Merciful like the Father
Since the Second Vatican Council, the Popes have never shied away from proclaiming the Doctrine of Mercy. Beginning with Pope John XXIII, who on October 11, 1962, during the opening address of the Second Vatican Council, said, “The Church prefers the medicine of Mercy rather than that of severity: ‘Today, however, Christ’s Bride prefers the balm of mercy to the arm of severity. She believes that present needs are best served by explaining more fully the purport of her doctrines, rather than by publishing condemnations.’”
Holy Doors: Preparing for the Year of Mercy
In the Diocese of Brooklyn, the Holy Year of Mercy will officially open on Sunday, Dec. 13, with the “opening” of Holy Doors at six different sites.
Seeing ‘the Other’ In the Year of Mercy
There is a touching image at the beginning of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s autobiography. As a little girl living in the projects in the Bronx, she recalls joining her cousins in her grandmother’s bedroom to make faces at passengers speeding by on the elevated train that ran at the height of the window.
Preparing for the Year of Mercy With Eyes Wide Open
In just seven weeks, Pope Francis, who has proclaimed an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, will open wide the doors of the Church’s Holy Year of Mercy. He is calling us to “gaze even more attentively on mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father’s action in our lives.”
Remains of St. Maria Goretti Visit Two B’klyn Churches
Several hundred people venerated the remains of the girl known as the “little saint of great mercy” at Good Shepherd Church, Marine Park, and St. Joseph Co-Cathedral, Prospect Heights, Oct. 1 and 2, respectively.
Relics of St. Maria Goretti To Be Venerated in Brooklyn
It is the first time that the saint’s body has travelled to the U.S. and only the second time that it has left Italy. The relics can be venerated at Good Shepherd Church, Marine Park, on Thursday Oct. 1 and at St. Joseph’s Co-Cathedral, Prospect Heights, on Friday, Oct. 2.